Turkey Asks NATO for More Protection

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Turkey asked NATO on Wednesday for more anti-missile systems and equipment to protect against a possible strike by Iraq in case of a U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein.

Turkey requested additional Patriot batteries along with gas masks and other equipment to protect against an attack with chemical or biological weapons, said a NATO official who spoke on condition that his name not be used.

Members of the alliance began reviewing the request. A decision was expected next week.

Earlier, two AWACS surveillance jets from the alliance base in Geilenkirchen, Germany, arrived in Turkey to provide airborne radar protection. Turkey is the only NATO country that borders Iraq.

The NATO jets with international crews are the first of five or six AWACS expected to patrol the skies over Turkey.

If the United States decides to attack, one possible plan would involve troops invading from Turkey in the north and Kuwait in the south.

In Berlin, officials said Germany cannot offer further assistance to Turkey.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a leading opponent of a war to disarm Saddam, agreed to the dispatching of the AWACS surveillance planes and to providing Patriot missiles for defense.

But Schroeder spokesman Thomas Steg said Germany would decline an additional request for assistance.

German officials declined to give details of the Turkish request. But the Berliner Zeitung newspaper said it included more Patriot systems and equipment to defend against nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

"We are providing the solidarity requested, and expect now that the other countries will make their contribution," Steg said.

The Netherlands has agreed to ship 60 Patriot missiles to Turkey in addition to the 46 provided by Germany. The Netherlands has also shipped three Patriot batteries, each containing up to eight missile launchers, along with 370 troops to operate the units.

A Dutch ship unloaded the first battery in Turkey on Wednesday. Trucks carrying the anti-missile missiles moved into a nearby naval base. Camouflage nets were seen on the top of some of the trucks.